iPad gives 'kamishibai' stories a new lease on life

"Kamishibai" artist Yuta Sasaki recites a story in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Dec. 20 with an iPad installed in a wooden frame. (Hiroki Ito)

A traditional "kamishibai" storyteller is using modern tablet computers to introduce new elements of improvisation and interactivity to his craft.

"Kamishibai" (picture card show) storytelling has a long tradition in Japan, using large picture boards to illustrate stories told on the street, and used to be a popular form of children's entertainment.

Now, modern technology is giving the neglected tradition a new lease of life.

At a performance in November in Kunitachi city, Tokyo, Yuta Sasaki asks his audience to give him the names of their favorite TV celebrities, and gets an unexpected answer from a young girl in the audience: "Papa!"

The 28-year-old storyteller is unruffled, quickly shooting a photo of her father's face with his cellphone and importing it into the iPad that forms the center of his act. The tablet computer displays the images that punctuate his narrative, replacing the picture boards of tradition.

Sasaki proceeds to spin a yarn about the girl's father fighting and defeating a villain, complete with illustrations of him in the center of the action.

While storytelling has always integrated elements of improvisation and interaction with audiences, Sasaki says modern technology is far more flexible than the old picture boards, allowing him to improvise narratives and add images from the Internet and his camera as he talks to his audience.

A feeling of spontaneity runs throughout his work. Musicians who accompany his performances improvise their music, and the performers make a point of not discussing what they are going to do before a story begins. It is all done by the seat of the pants.

"That is part of the fun in it," Sasaki says, laughing.

A graduate of Tokyo-based Keio University, Sasaki works as a freelance IT worker, making websites and animated videos, and gives kamishibai performances once a month at the Shitamachi Museum in Taito Ward, which is dedicated to traditional downtown Tokyo culture.

He was first captivated by kamishibai at a university festival, aged 23, and became a disciple of the late Masao Morishita, known as "Mr. Kamishibai." Sasaki devoted himself to studying kamishibai and Morishita's unique style.

Morishita died in late 2008. But Sasaki is still trying to live up to a promise he made to his master to "make street kamishibai a normal sight once more."

The idea of using Apple Inc.'s tablet computer in his performances came to him in August 2010. He says the sliding movement of the operator's finger on the touchscreen of the iPad to bring up each new illustration fits perfectly with kamishibai tradition.

"It resembles the movement of kamishibai when taking out a card," he says. "This must be the right choice to make today's children happy."